Energy saving lightbulbs

[Carol Anne]

Im still not sold on these and I doubt I ever will be. I remember buying one of the very first ones about 20 years ago for about six quid for the garage light, with the promise that it would pay for itself 'over and over'. It was about the most useless thing ever. It would take about 5 minutes to warm up and even then after about a year it started to dim. Even now they have ridiculous claims on the boxes that they last six years. What a load of hooey! I've got them in the cellar and the attic,( never in the lounge or bedroom as even the so called 'soft tone' ones light the place up like a supermarket) and they are useless after about 18months or so. I took one out this morning that had been in for a year and replaced it with an ordinary bulb of supposedly the same light output of 100w and was almost blinded by the difference!! The government harps on about changing over to these bulbs, but I wont be untill they can get them right.

[Ethel]

All of my lightbulbs are low energy. They are instantly bright and they seem to last!

I love them. Especially as they were all free on some government scheme or other.

[bazwillrun]

you obviously got crap bulbs
i bought all mine at Ikea, dirt cheap, and seven years later i've not had one go yet

[Carol Anne]

Oh I know quite a few people who swear by them, and I've seen how their homes look when lit by them ...... No thank-you!!

[antiguru]

So what was your question?

I, like the other 2 respondents, assumed you were essentially posting to ask if other people had had a better experience than you, but when we tell you we have (and I too am a convert) you dismiss our answers.

[rojash]

I'm a bit puzzled. First you say they "light up the place like a supermarket", then that you were blinded by the difference when you replaced them with a bulb of the same theoretical output. So, do you shop in really dimly lit supermarkets, or did you mean that the 100 watt bulb was so dim that you might as well be blind?

[Carol Anne]

I meant quite simply that having taken out the energy saving lamp which after I year of service had become so dim, that on replacing it with the ordinary lamp the difference in brightness was quite apparent. Ordinary bulbs may use a lot more power but in my experience they are at least consistent in light output.
I dont mind my cellar being lit by the harsh white light produced by compact fluorescent lamps, but not my living room or bedroom.
They have yet to produce one that gives off the same warm tones that bulbs burning at high temperature give.

[Gavin Dunt]

http://www.lost.eu/87ef

[heathfield]

I tend to agree with you, Carol Anne. I point out to those people who give them out free that :-

1. They can flicker and take 3 to 5 seconds to come on if they're cold. Answer -'Agreed, but look at the money you're saving'.
2. They can take minutes to reach full intensity if they're cold. Answer - They're getting better all the time.
3. Lousy colour spectrum. They may be as bright as an ordinary bulb to a lightmeter, but to the human eye they're not. Answer -' We're working on the colour spectrum'
4. They dim over time. Answer - 'They don't.' (That's not my experience).
5. Quoted life is based on only 3 hours use a day. Where's this in an average house? In a bathroom? Answer - 'Well, we have to base it on something.'

To me, they have only one great advantage - since they run cooler, you can ignore the maximum permitted wattage label on lampshades! And I don't burn my hand trying to switch off an Anglepoise lamp with the switch on top of the shade.

[wadeyflying]

i run them in table lamps behind silh shades and they look great and they seem to last forever. just think you are doing your bit for global warming. you can always fit a lower power bulb if you think it is too bright.

[thundercrack]

hi carol anne, I agree fully with you. they are basically little fluorescent lights and tend to give off stark light. I have one in a tall freestanding floor lamp and trying to read under it is a battle with shadows. the 100w comparable bulb is about as bright as the light outside the TOC H mission buildings. they were selling 100w bulbs that consume only 18w at out local supermarket for 50p each, so at that price I will buy some and use them in non light important places, which is about all they are good for, the toilet,garage,porch and the odd table lamp.
alf.

[Carol Anne]

Hi alf. Im LMFAO here about the TOC-H.!
It reminds me of when I was a child in the 1960's and being dragged of to this and that at the local mission hall in Morecambe.
Sadly, I think the last people to show an interest in it died off 20 odd years ago and it has stood in a derelict state ever since.

[NiceCupOfTea]

There's loads of different makes out there. The ones I use come on a box that seems to indicate they're made by General Electric. The box is green, grey and white.

They only take about two seconds to come to full light and, touch wood, last for ages. The ones we use have been in place (and working, I hasten to add) for at least 18 months. I only know, because my baby is 18 months at Christmas and we put energy saving bulbs up everywhere we could the month before she was born.

[wildwood]

I have been a convert for six years. I had never considered that some people might not like the new type. I can not see what the problem is Carol. As one has already suggested, if too bright get lower powered ones and save even more dough. 3 hours is the average daily normal use. More in the winter, less in the summer. If you stay up until well after 11 everynight you are not an average person and you can not expect your lightbulbs to last 5 years. These bulbs are not suited for places where the light is only used for frequent short periods, such as toilets and garages.

[kwicky]

They keep saying if you use things like energy saving lightbulbs and other money saving devices that it will save you money. But every time I get my electric bill it goes up and up and up.

[reinganum]

I have noticed an improvement over the last few years, notably that the equivalent lamps have become smaller, but there are still some problems. Mainly that the design of the lamp makes them difficult to put into some fitments (because the skirt which holds the shade on is too big and I can't get the bayonet on the end of the bulb to engage with the socket). The other is the usual one of the light being dim for a few minutes before the maximum light level is reached.

However others are right about the "equivalent" energy-saving lamp being not quite so bright. Here's how you know: on the pack, a normal 100w bulb is marked as giving 1320 lumens, but a 20W energy-saving lamp (said to be equivalent to a "normal" 100W bulb) only gives 1200 lumens. So the energy-saving bulb gives only 91 per cent of the light. Haven't noticed any falling off of light levels over time, though.

[Disco Fever]

I'm a sparky and I see your point Carol Anne, 99% of the low energy lamps you buy from B & Q or Wickes or Focus and colour 827 which is warm white or colour 835 which is white and when they start to get old they lose there brightness as the flourescent properties get older by use.

Ive got the low energy lamps all over the house especially at the top of the stairs which I leave on all night for the kids but the only fittings I have with normal lamps in are the ones in the lounge as I use a dimmer and you can't dim compact fluorescents, yet.

If you want more light output from a low energy, compact fluorescent, lamp then you will need to go to an electrical wholesaler and get the lamps you require in either colour 840 or 860 which are natural daylight or superbright, colour 840 and 860 are what us sparks call Triphospherous lamps and should only lose 10% of there light output from day 1 to there last day of use when there totally knackered.

I used to change the colour 840 fluorescent tubes in the local Coop's and they have there's changed every 18 months due to the different light outputs from new to used and you know when it comes to shops selling there wares they need the shop floor to be as bright as possible..

By the way a lamp is the proper word for a bulb as a bulb is what you plant in the ground and a fitting is what you put your lamp into....

Easy ain't it

[Disco Fever]

Oh and I forgot to say, if your low energy lamp is in a garage or somewhere cold then it will be dim until they have warmed up just the same as a fluorescent tube....